Air Seychelles signs historic fleet deal with Canada's Viking Air

Air Seychelles today announced the purchase of three Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft, in a deal which will see the iconic island carrier renew its domestic fleet. The new aircraft will be used for services between Mahé and Praslin, as well as other islands in the archipelago, including Bird, Denis and Frégate.

All
three aircraft deliveries are scheduled for mid-2015, with an option for earlier
delivery if aircraft become available.The airline currently operates one Viking
Air DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 and three Series 300 aircraft.

Themulti-million
dollar fleet announcement was made at a joint Air Seychelles-Viking Air press
conference this morning at Mahé International Airport, and comes as Air
Seychelles marks 35 years in business.

Present
to share details of the new fleet order were Air Seychelles Chief Executive
Officer, Cramer Ball, Viking Air President and Chief Executive Officer, David
C. Curtis, the Seychelles Minister for Home Affairs and Transport and Chairman
of Air Seychelles, Joel Morgan.

Cramer
Ball said: “On the eve of our 35th anniversary, I’m delighted to
mark a major milestone in our carrier’s development with thishistoric fleet
order. This announcement is testament to
the success of our turnaround strategy, which has seen an expansion in both our
international and domestic services, and the synergies derived from working
closely with our equity partner, Etihad Airways. Once delivered, the new aircraft will replace
our three existing DHC-6 Series 300 Twin Otters, forming the backbone of a
younger Air Seychelles domestic fleet. The
aircraft will secure the future of our inter-island services, Seychelles
tourism and our economy.”

Mr
Ball added the Canadian built 19-seat twin engine Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34 aircraft
are ideally suited for short sector flying, being able to land on rugged, short
airstrips, and having few issues operating in a saline and humid
environment. “These aircraft are designed
for Short take-offs and landings, and are robust in extreme conditions – something
we have a lot of experience with in the Seychelles since the Twin Otters were
first introduced here in the early 1980s.
The new aircraft are the right tools at the right time for Air
Seychelles.”

Joel
Morgan said: “This purchase of three brand new Twin Otters to serve the
inter-islands is a win-win situation for both the Seychellois community and Air
Seychelles. Twin Otters have proven to be the best and most reliable type of
aircraft to serve the islands. The replacement of the domestic fleet had long
been planned by the government, however, due to previous financial constraints this
was not possible. Today we are delighted
that we are able to do so not only for the benefit and comfort of our
international visitors but, for our local commuters as well.”

David
C. Curtis, said: “Air Seychelles has
been a long time and loyal operator of the Twin Otter aircraft, and was one of
the first customers to commit to the new Viking Series 400 Twin Otter during
development. They put a great deal of faith
in Viking and our ability to deliver, and their return to Viking for additional
aircraft speaks to Air Seychelles’ on-going commitment and confidence in the
Twin Otter Series 400. We value the
relationship we have developed with Air Seychelles, and are honoured that such
a world-class organisation has made the Twin Otter Series 400 their aircraft of
choice in the 19-passenger category.”

The
new aircraft willbe manufactured at Viking Air’s state-of-the-art production facility
in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Previously, Twin Otters were manufactured
by de Havilland Canada, and of the 850 built since the mid-1960s, more than 600
are still in active service around the world.

Mr Ball concluded that
2013 has been an historic year for Air Seychelles. So far in 2013 the carrier has introduced a
second Airbus A330-200 aircraft, launched services to Hong Kong, signed codeshare
agreements with airberlin, South African Airways and Czech Airlines, expanded
the number of codeshare destinations with equity partner Etihad Airways, witnessed
surging passenger growth in its domestic services, and crucially, posted its
first profit in three years. The indicators also point to the carrier being on
track for a second successive year of profitability.

“Key to this fleet deal has
been the growth in our domestic traffic since the beginning of 2013, up 15 per
cent for visitors and up 13 per cent for local commuters, and we’re already
seeing strong bookings going into next year.
We have also seen solid business with our charters. Working alongside
our international and local tourism partners, as well as Viking Air, we look
forward to a successful entry into service of these new aircraft.”

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